Gracillariid Leaf Mine Fossil

Leaf mine fossil made by moth caterpillar (Gracillariid sp.) from the Cretaceous Period.  Fossil on display (2010) at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Washington D.C.

Display lists it as "The scar on this fossil leaf shows where a moth tunneled into the leaf to feed on the plant tissue."

Macginitiea wyomingensus Leaf Fossil

A sycamore leaf (Macginitiea wyomingensus) displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  The splotches on fossil are insect mines.   Display text shown as "An insect larva burrowed the tunnels or mines on this sycamore leaf."  Leaf is from Eocene Epoch (Paleogene Period) about 45 million years old.

Butterfly in Amber

A butterfly (Voltinia dramba) trapped in amber over 20 million years ago. Amber was found in the Dominican Republic from the Miocene. Fossil was on display in 2010 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.